1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to aerial and die-mount cams and more particularly to improvements in universal cams configured to facilitate their assembly using identical slides and other components that do not require custom fitting to provide slide movements within a wide range of angles.
2. Background Art
Aerial and die-mount cams are often used to operate tools for such manufacturing processes as punching, trimming, stamping and bending workpieces. These devices include elements that convert downward and upward forces provided by a press into laterally directed component forces that advance and retract a tool in lateral directions to effect the mentioned processes.
The wide variety of applications of the cams results in a proportional number of different component configurations to accommodate the demands made to move tools in required directions. Typically, the major components of a cam include an adapter assembly connected to one of a pair of platens of a press, a driver connected to the other of the pair of platens, and a slide positioned between the adapter assembly and the driver so that the slide is forced to advance and retract when the platens are forced together and apart, respectively.
The angle relative to the horizontal along which the slide is forced to move is that of the inclination of the driver. The slide and/or the adapter assembly must therefore be configured to accommodate the inclination of the driver. In view of this, the typical cam requires adapter assemblies and/or slides that have as many configurations as associated drivers have inclinations. It would therefore be advantageous from the standpoint of cost and time saved during the design, manufacture and assembly of cams to fabricate cams requiring slides and adapter assemblies, each of which having only one respective configuration, to provide slide motions in directions over a large range of angles. Similar advantages would result from fabricating cams requiring slides having only one configuration and adapter assemblies having only two configurations to provide slide motions over an additional range of angles.